Well-Being: On a Fundamental Concept of Practical Philosophy
Author(s)
Seel, Martin
Abstract
With few exceptions modern practical philosophy has neglected a systematic explication of human well-being. But any philosophical account of moral and political issues–and especially any critical theory of modern society–has to rely on a qualified understanding of the conditions and forms of a good life. Even thinkers such as Kant and Habermas, who explicitly refuse theories of the good (in the sense of good individual living), implicitly operate with assumptions about what is good for anyone. The article therefore argues that a formal conception of well-being is ethically unavoidable, theoretically possible and without alternative in social philosophy.
